The Case For Killmonger's Return In Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

gamerant.com:

With Black Panther: Wakanda Forever being the next Marvel movie in line, the biggest question surrounding the film is who exactly will end up replacing the late Chadwick Boseman both as King of the African nation and to take up the vacant Black Panther mantle.

The easy answer to that question would point to Letitia Wright’s Shuri as the most logical candidate. However, T’Challa’s girlfriend Nakia is also a viable option, as well as some of the other Wakandan men who had their eyes on the heart-shaped purple herb. Nevertheless, some early fan theories are imagining how Michael B. Jordan’s Killmonger could make a comeback and rise from the sea to succeed his cousin, and the more one thinks about the more he starts to sound like the best candidate.

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Firstly and most importantly, Killmonger was arguably the MCU’s absolute best villain. Sure, some might say Marvel’s movie bad guys are severely lacking, with very few worthy candidates for that title, but Killmonger’s saving grace was not Jordan’s performance. Instead, it was a character who presented a convincing motive as to why he craved power. Beyond the genocidal desires of Thanos or some more elaborate revenge arcs, most MCU baddies are usually after an almighty shiny object and little else. Killmonger was more complex.

In Black Panther, T’Challa even offers Killmonger the chance to be saved, yet the character’s undying conviction leads him to prefer “death over bondage” as the soldier he is. Suffice to say, Killmonger is a bad guy. Nevertheless, what would precisely make him a character worth exploring is that he could somehow see the faults in his beliefs and become a hero, or at least an antihero.

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